Olympic torch arrives in Australia ahead of protests

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA, April 23 (Reuters) - The Olympic torch arrived in Australia's capital of Canberra on Wednesday, landing at an air force base under the type of tight security usually afforded visiting world leaders.

Hundreds of extra police have been called in to protect the torch, which will be carried through barricaded Canberra streets on Thursday, with authorities determined to avoid the chaos that disrupted the relay in Europe and the United States.

China had hoped the torch's journey would be a symbol of unity in the run-up to the Beijing Games, but the torch has drawn anti-China protests over human rights and Beijing's crackdown in Tibet, as well as pro-China demonstrations.

The plane carrying the torch arrived at the Fairbairn military base, where Aborigines will preform an indigenous welcome involving didgeridoo playing, as a small group of pro-Chinese supporters waved Chinese flags at the base's gate.

There was no sign of protesters.

Aborigine Bunja Smith, who will present officials with a traditional wooden message stick inscribed with the word "Peace", said Australia's Aborigines had a long history of repression and understood the need for protest.

"I believe in human rights ... (but) you can't give someone human rights by taking away someone else's human rights," Smith told Reuters.

"We are a people who have been repressed, but we ask the protesters to keep it a protest and not violent," he said.